How we fund

We're a fund

Zoa Fund makes grants to organizations doing animal-protection work, primarily in the United States. We sometimes design and run our own projects when we see a gap that grantmaking alone can't fill, but most of our money goes to outside organizations. We don't run programs internally that compete with our grantees.

All of our grantmaking advances animal welfare and animal rights. We take a broad view on culture change and fund work that expands the public dialogue around animal issues — see our issues for the specific areas we focus on today.

Mostly by invitation

Most of our funding goes to organizations we've sought out, where the alignment with our priorities is already clear. We don't post an open application form, and unsolicited proposals rarely receive funding.

If your work clearly fits one of our issues, we'd like to hear from you. Read those pages first, then send a short, specific note to grants@zoafund.org. We appreciate when people have done the work to understand our priorities before reaching out.

We're also happy to meet people doing animal-protection work that isn't a fit for us — just be straight about what your work is rather than reframing it to look like a fit.

Forms of work we fund

Across our issues, we support three forms of work:

• Political and policy work. Local and statewide campaigns, ballot initiatives, and the political infrastructure that makes durable wins possible.
• Movement coordination. Convenings, capacity-building, and shared strategy across organizations working on the same problems.
• Research, narrative & culture. Rigorous policy research, media projects, and cultural work that shifts how the public thinks about animals.

Most grants combine elements of all three.

How decisions get made

1. Research. We map the issue, its political landscape, and the organizations doing the work.
2. Outreach. We approach organizations whose work fits our priorities.
3. Conversation. We discuss strategy, budget, and what success looks like.
4. Proposal. Brief written proposal — we don't ask for long applications.
5. Decision. Most grants are decided within 6–8 weeks of a fitting conversation.
6. Partnership. Ongoing engagement throughout the grant period.

What we don't fund

• Individual people or research projects without an organizational home.
• Work primarily focused outside the United States.
• Organizations whose primary mission is not animal protection.
• Capital campaigns or facility construction.
• Litigation as a stand-alone strategy (we may fund litigation as part of a broader campaign).

Get in touch

For inquiries that fit one of our issues, email grants@zoafund.org. For everything else, hello@zoafund.org.